[Elecraft] K2 Power ouput on 160m

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

I think that Wayne and Eric would be rather astonished at your experience
with the K2, Jim. While the K3 might have less phase noise, it's my
understanding that the K2 is "state of the art" for rigs available in the
late 90's when it first appeared and needs no apologies today. 

The K2 was never intended to be only a QRP rig. From the beginning it was
advertised as either a 10-watt or medium power rig even though the original
shipments were the 10-watt version only. In 1999 and 2000 the Elecraft web
site said that the integral PA amplifier would run 50 watts, but that
quickly changed to 100 watts. 

I can only imagine what those critics would say about a rig from the 1940's,
50's and on, yet there are a many of them on the bands today and will
probably continue for a very long time to come! 
 
73 Ron AC7AC


-----Original Message-----

On 6/12/2012 9:11 AM, Bill W4ZV wrote:
> Thanks to Don KI4D I finally got an N0SS T-R Relay kit for my K2.  In 
> checking it out with my Alpha 76PA I got ~400 Watts on 160 and ~600 
> Watts on 80.

When I moved to NCCC territory six years ago, I fired up one of my K2s
driving my Titan amp for a CW contest.  Almost immediately I got a call from
another NCCC member complaining about excessive phase noise.  It's a
limitation of the K2 design, which was originally intended to be a QRP rig.
The phase noise isn't a big deal when you're only running 5W, not too bad at
100W, but your neighbors won't like you if you're running more power than
that.  And the experience with that rig is one reason why the K3 is so
clean.

73, Jim K9YC